4 weeks since the fire

Its been 4 weeks today since we woke up (or in my case just got up – never managed sleep) after a fire ravaged through our rental home and destroyed it more or less completely.

We lost literally everything, all forms of ID and any documents… all my Photo Gear, Geoff’s Guitars etc, all photos in general – some of which I had the only copies… all my books – both weaving and history/archaeology as well as cooking ones… all our clothes.. EVERYTHING – just gone…

I managed to keep most people up to date on what followed via facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp but heard from some that they heard through this blog – albeit only the side bar…

So I thought I might copy and paste some of those early facebook posts here – and then keep you up to date with what is happening now – perhaps weekly – as we rebuild our lives….

Day 1 – I deleted that post as it was too raw….

here just some photos…

flames higher than the power lines

7 appliances from 4 villages

the front did not look too bad

whats left of one of Geoffs Guitars

whats left of the kitchen

whats left of the lounge

that was part of the bedroom – filing cabinet with all the important papers

bathroom

one of my treasured Camera Lenses.

Day 2…

3hrs sleep (better than the 1 the first night:-)

Bankcards take about 4-5 working days to get replaced, no they cant give me the number yet so I cant even buy anything online.. lovely..

Drivers licence – well that is interesting – to renew my licence I need a photo ID – told them That was my licence…, what about a passport – ehm what part of the whole house burned down did you not understand…?
ok then 3 forms of ID…. ok…what type? Proof of citizenship – you mean like the passport I do not have anymore? oh…ok maybe your citizenship certificate – oh yes – that one did also not survive…. whats the other two then? Utility bill with you name on it and a form that needs to be signed by someone that knows you a minimum of one year… right how do I fill that in? print it and take it with you -.. right – house burnt down and printer went with it…..

I got this!

Internal Affairs waiting line 43 minutes… then oh for the copy of the citizenship certificate you need to fill in a form pay the fee and it takes 15 days… ok…but you need photo ID for that WHAAAATTT? ok how about passport then.. yes have you got your number…..? ehm… nope… ok then… I can give you your passport number when you answer me the following questions..date of birth, place of birth, height, eye color etc… now I can give you your number with that you can apply online.. get photo and need referee…ok easy then…oh it takes 12 days… K .. any faster – yes but then it is $380odd dollars… lovely..we need two off those thanks..

I got this… log on the Real Me page – whats your password… try a few – gave up…

there is more but I am too exhausted to write it all…Insurance woes tomorrow…. that one is even better..

In the meantime – Thank you all who have supported us. We are overwhelmed to say the least.it is still very fresh and raw though…

I have been asked a few times for our bank account number instead of the givealittle page so here it is: – deleted..

Thank you!! Its a long road ahead

One of my finished Piupiu survived under a lot of debris

Saved from one Hall way Cupboard

Saved from one Hallway Cupboard

Saved from one hallway cupboard

The kitchen

The kitchen Pantry

whats left

that was a pake – shoulder cape I made

Day 3:

Look what we found….

Amazing..
Latest update..

The local fire brigade done their weekly training exercise at our burned out house today and we asked the chief if he could look for specific items in the bedroom – some very dear heirlooms – whilst he did not find everything we had hoped for – or indeed most was so badly burned there was no use.. he did find some things… and it brought tears to my eyes…

Thank you all also for the kind donations we have received both in terms of Money or cash or vouchers or goods!

So below again the details for the kind fundraisers..

For those who rather not or cannot but want to help us financially (And trust me we so appreciate it)

Givealittle is still going and there is also a “gift” option on paypal if someone prefers to help us this way (no waiting time and no 5% commission like givealittle).

You will need my e-mail address R.G.Baker@xtra.co.nz for that (select family/friends and then gift).

We certainly do appreciate it more than you’ll every know.

So so emotional to see this has survived too

These watches where a wedding gift from my parents and have stones in them from the Frauenkirche in Dresden – my home town, our wedding rings… a pendant that was my grandmothers and a photo of my grandparents on their last birthday together…

I do not want to make this post much longer so the next few days of updates will follow in separate posts – so these are copies of the ones that I put up on the actual days… so they are about 4 weeks old now..